Friday, 23 December 2011

Our seasonal rationalist extravaganza Nine Lesson and Carols for Godless people wraps up its six-night run at London's Bloomsbury Theatre on Friday 23 December. For those who asked, or are interested, here are the line-ups from each night. The house band on every night was Martin White's Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra.

Thursday, 22 December 2011

Comedy superstar (and rationalist) Tim Minchin was supposed to be on The Jonathan Ross Show this week. He'd even written a brand new song for it, as he explains on his blog:

"Being Christmas, I thought it would be fun to do a song about Jesus, but being TV, I knew it would have to be gentle. The idea was to compare him to Woody Allen (short, Jewish, philosophical, a bit hesitant), and expand into redefining his other alleged attributes using modern, popular-culture terminology."

The recording went ahead as planned last Tuesday, everyone involved enjoyed it, and Tim even managed to finish in time to shoot off to the Hammersmith Apollo to join Brian Cox on stage at Robin Ince's Uncaged Monkeys show.

But when the show airs tomorrow night, Tim will be nowhere to be seen:

"Subsequently, Suzi [the show's producer] and her team edited the show and everybody was happy. Suzi felt it had a nice balance of big-ticket celeb action, local talent, and a nice bit of that cheeky, iconoclastic spirit for which Jonathan is known and widely loved.

And then someone got nervous and sent the tape to ITV’s director of television, Peter Fincham.

And Peter Fincham demanded that I be cut from the show.

He did this because he’s scared of the ranty, shit-stirring, right-wing press, and of the small minority of Brits who believe they have a right to go through life protected from anything that challenges them in any way."

Fortunately, Tim already had the footage, and he's uploaded it to YouTube for people to judge for themselves. If you ask us, it's hard to imagine how the edifice of Christianity could have remained standing had the sensitive ears of Christian ITV viewers not been spared this gently blasphemous comedy number.

A special podcast series from New Humanist to mark the fourth year of
our annual rationalist shows Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless
People, and the release of the 20-track CD of last year's show,
available now for £12 from gofasterstripe.com.

On the ninth, and final, day, musician and comedian Mitch Benn explains the true meaning of Christmas.

To listen, use the player above, subscribe via RSS or email, or download the full file via our podcast page,
where you can also find the full archive of all our podcasts. We're
also on iTunes - just search for "New Humanist" in the store and select
the podcast subtitled "The podcast for godless people".

That's the end of our Godless Christmas podcast series, and the New Humanist office closes tomorrow for the holiday. As a reminder that we atheists have no desire to drain the magic from the season, here's a lovely piece on why it's good for the kids to believe in the man who gave his name to the festive period.

Wednesday, 21 December 2011

A special podcast series from New Humanist to mark the fourth year of
our annual rationalist shows Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People,
and the release of the 20-track CD of last year's show, available now
for £12 from gofasterstripe.com.

On the eighth day, here's Jo Neary with some handy Christmas gift ideas.

To listen, use the player above, subscribe via RSS or email, or download the full file via our podcast page,
where you can also find the full archive of all our podcasts. We're
also on iTunes - just search for "New Humanist" in the store and select
the podcast subtitled "The podcast for godless people".

Tuesday, 20 December 2011

A special podcast series from New Humanist to mark the fourth year of
our annual rationalist shows Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People,
and the release of the 20-track CD of last year's show, available now
for £12 from gofasterstripe.com.

On Day 7, here's Al Murray's Pub Landlord on an ancient English myth we can all believe in.

To listen, use the player above, subscribe via RSS or email, or download the full file via our podcast page,
where you can also find the full archive of all our podcasts. We're
also on iTunes - just search for "New Humanist" in the store and select
the podcast subtitled "The podcast for godless people".

We've had two nights of Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People 2011 now, and our man backstage, Adam Smith, has been taking some great audio and video interviews with the performers. There's already lots for you to watch and listen to, and there'll be more coming over the next few days.

To get you started, here's our interview with stand-up-legend-turned-acclaimed-novelist Alexei Sayle, who compered the second half of last night's show:

Friday, 16 December 2011

A special podcast series from New Humanist to mark the fourth year of
our annual rationalist shows Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People,
and the release of the 20-track CD of last year's show, available now
for £12 from gofasterstripe.com.

On Day 6, here's singer and comedian Helen Arney with a love song inspired by the habits of animals.

To listen, use the player above, subscribe via RSS or email, or download the full file via our podcast page,
where you can also find the full archive of all our podcasts. We're
also on iTunes - just search for "New Humanist" in the store and select
the podcast subtitled "The podcast for godless people".

Christopher Hitchens has died, and we've lost one of the most elegant and powerful voices for reason, and a great friend of New Humanist. He once, very kindly, said of us that we were "part of the arsenal with which we must launch a – long overdue – defence of the Enlightenment", and his rousing spirit has inspired much of what we have done over the last few years. Here's an interview Laurie Taylor did with him for New Humanist back in 2002.

It's testament to the impact of the man's life and work that the internet has quickly filled with obituaries and tributes from friends, colleagues and readers. There's lots to read, but here in the New Humanist office we've found that there is no better way to remember the Hitch than by revisiting some of his greatest essays and columns. You'll find many of them on the website of Vanity Fair, where he was a contributing editor from 1992, and kept writing all through his prolonged illness.

And we all know the man could turn a phrase, so here's the Guardian's round-up of some his greatest quotes. It's hard to single out just one, but for this particular blog, this seems most appropriate:

"The only position that leaves me with no cognitive dissonance is atheism. It is not a creed. Death is certain, replacing both the siren-song of Paradise and the dread of Hell. Life on this earth, with all its mystery and beauty and pain, is then to be lived far more intensely: we stumble and get up, we are sad, confident, insecure, feel loneliness and joy and love. There is nothing more; but I want nothing more." – The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-Believer, 2007

Thursday, 15 December 2011

A special podcast series from New Humanist to mark the fourth year of
our annual rationalist shows Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People,
and the release of the 20-track CD of last year's show, available now
for £12 from gofasterstripe.com.

On the fifth day of Godless
Christmas, we bring you a section from the set of one of last year's
special guests, Ed Byrne, who talks about hanging out with Cern
physicists and how Brian Cox's Wonders of the Solar System has left him
with an intense sense of planetary pride.

Note: if there are kids around, this clip contains a spot of industrial language, specifically of the F-word variety.

To listen, use the player above, subscribe via RSS or email, or download the full file via our podcast page, where you can also find the full archive of all our podcasts. We're also on iTunes - just search for "New Humanist" in the store and select the podcast subtitled "The podcast for godless people".

Wednesday, 14 December 2011

It's day four of our pod mini-series The Nine Days of Godless Christmas, and today its the very talented Jim Bob singing a bit of an old classic. At the bottom you can find links to days 1-3.

If you'd like to hear more, all the clips are taken from the CD Ten Lessons and Carols for Godless People, which is available to buy from Go Faster Stripe for a Christmas-present-crisis-busting £12.

To listen, use the player above, subscribe via RSS or email, or download the full file via our podcast page, where you can also find the full archive of all our podcasts. We're also on iTunes - just search for "New Humanist" in the store and select the podcast subtitled "The podcast for godless people".

Already live:

Day 1 featured comedian and compere of the shows Robin Ince, reading from one of the patron saints of rationalism, physicist Richard Feynman.

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

To celebrate the return of our sell-out Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People shows this Christmas, we’re running a special series of podcasts, “The Nine Days of Godless Christmas”, featuring clips from last year’s shows.

Over the next couple of weeks we'll be bringing you nine of the best bits from 2010. If you'd like to hear more, all the clips are taken from the CD Ten Lessons and Carols for Godless People, which is available to buy from Go Faster Stripe for a Christmas-present-crisis-busting £12.

To listen, use the player above, subscribe via RSS or email, or download the full file via our podcast page, where you can also find the full archive of all our podcasts. We're also on iTunes - just search for "New Humanist" in the store and select the podcast subtitled "The podcast for godless people".

Already live:

Day 1 featured comedian and compere of the shows Robin Ince, reading from one of the patron saints of rationalism, physicist Richard Feynman.

Monday, 12 December 2011

To celebrate the return of our sell-out Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People shows this Christmas, we’re running a special series of podcasts, “The Nine Days of Godless Christmas”, featuring clips from last year’s shows.

Over the next couple of weeks we'll be bringing you nine of the best bits from 2010. If you'd like to hear more, all the clips are taken from the CD Ten Lessons and Carols for Godless People, which is available to buy from Go Faster Stripe for a Christmas-present-crisis-busting £12.

Day 2 Features comedian Nick Doody with his song celebrating the Messiah's titfer

To listen, use the player above, subscribe via RSS or email, or download the full file via our podcast page, where you can also find the full archive of all our podcasts. We're also on iTunes - just search for "New Humanist" in the store and select the podcast subtitled "The podcast for godless people".

Already live:

Day 1 featuredcomedian and compere of the shows Robin Ince, reading from one of the patron saints of rationalism, physicist Richard Feynman.

Friday, 9 December 2011

To celebrate the return of our sell-out Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People shows this Christmas, we’re running a special series of podcasts, “The Nine Days of Godless Christmas”, featuring clips from last year’s shows.

Over the next couple of weeks we'll be bringing you nine of the best bits from 2010. If you'd like to hear more, all the clips are taken from the CD Ten Lessons and Carols for Godless People, which is available to buy from Go Faster Stripe for a Christmas-present-crisis-busting £12.

Day 1 features comedian and compere of the shows Robin Ince, reading
from one of the patron saints of rationalism, physicist Richard Feynman.

To listen, use the player above, subscribe via RSS or email, or download the full file via our podcast page, where you can also find the full archive of all our podcasts. We're also on iTunes - just search for "New Humanist" in the store and select the podcast subtitled "The podcast for godless people".

The Americans are coming! The new issue of New Humanist pays tribute to the special relationship, with some awesome US-themed content.

Our cover story is by Brooklyn-based journalist Abby Ohlheiser and takes a look at the Republican candidates going after the God ‘n’ Guns voters in their attempt to secure the presidential nomination. With cover-star Sarah Palin out of the running, we look at how she is positioning herself as kingmaker in the race to take on Obama.

In a more personal vein, Washington DC-based journalist Jamila Bey writes about what it’s like to be black female and atheist in America. On the cultural front we pay tribute to America’s first family – no, not the Obamas – The Simpsons, and look back at their 22-years of satirising faith, American-style. Rounding up the US content we have persuaded Vanity Fair editor at large Cullen Murphy to write about what he discovered in the Vatican archives in writing his new book on the legacy of the Inquisition.

But it’s not all about the US of A – we also feature comedian Andy Hamilton on why he has sympathy for the Devil, biographer Claire Tomalin talks about the double life of Charles Dickens, Kitty Ferguson tells us why Stephen Hawking is such an iconic scientist, we talk to Middle East expert Fuad Nahdi about the Arab Spring and what comes next, and Sally Feldman tells us why it’s not humanist to diet. New Year nourishment from New Humanist.

To get your copy, why not take the rational option and subscribe for just £21 (£25 non-UK)? Or you will find us in hundreds of stores nationwide, including selected WH Smiths (use the store finder box on our home page to find a stockist).

The British Social Attitudes report, a highly-regarded annual survey of the British public's views on a wide range of social and political subjects, has found that 50 per cent of people now regard themselves as not belonging to a particular religion.

As those who have followed the debate over the census religion question (which in 2001 found almost 72 per cent of people to be Christian) will know, attempts to measure religiosity produce vastly different results according to how the question is phrased. As is explained in the full report, the BSA's religion statistics are obtained using three questions, the first being "Do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion? IF YES: which?". In the latest survey, published today, the results are as follows:

Analysis of past BSA surveys, which date back to 1983, reveal a significant shift over the past three decades. In 1983, 31 per cent said they had no religion, compared with 40 per cent in 2005 and 50 per cent in 2010. While the numbers of non-religious have risen, the figures for the Church of England have fallen dramatically, with 40 per cent identifying as C of E in 1983, compared with 26 per cent in 2005 and 20 per cent in 2010.

The BSA's second religion question focuses on whether people were brought up in religions (you can view those results by taking a look at the report), while the third question focuses on religious attendance: "Apart from such special occasions as weddings, funerals and baptisms, how often nowadays do you attend services or meetings connected with your religion?"

The overall results for this question, which was asked of all those who said they are affiliated to a religion or grew up in a religion, show that 56 per cent never attend religious services. Again, there is particularly bad news for the Church of England: 48 per cent of adherents say they never attend church, with just 8 per cent saying they attend weekly and 10 per cent monthly. 25 per cent say they attend on an annual basis. Catholics, meanwhile, show higher levels of brand loyalty: 29 per cent never attend, but 28 per cent attend weekly and 17 per cent attend monthly. 20 per cent say they make it to church once a year.

The survey also breaks the results down according to age, and here it becomes starkly clear how rapidly religiosity is falling in the UK. While only 28 per cent of those aged 65 and over identify as non-religious, for other age groups the figures are as follows:

So what does all this mean? The author of the religion section of the BSA survey, Lucy Lee, offers an interesting conclusion, which I think is worth reproducing here:

"Britain is becoming less religious, with the numbers who affiliate with a religion or attend religious services experiencing a long-term decline. And this trend seems set to continue; not only as older, more religious generations are replaced by younger, less religious ones, but also as the younger generations increasingly opt not to bring up their children in a religion – a factor shown to strongly link with religious affiliation and attendance later in life.

What does this decline mean for society and social policy more generally? On the one hand, we can expect to see a continued increase in liberal attitudes towards a range of issues such as abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and euthanasia, as the influence of considerations grounded in religion declines. Moreover, we may see an increased reluctance, particularly among the younger age groups, for matters of faith to enter the social and public spheres at all. The recently expressed sentiment of the current coalition government to “do” and “get” God (Warsi, 2011) therefore may not sit well with, and could alienate, certain sections of the population."

Away from the religion issue, there's lots of other interesting information in the BSA survey, covering a range of issues from education to the environment. You can see the full report on the website of the "National Centre for Social Research", which conducts the survey.

Thursday, 1 December 2011

Fans of our Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People shows, which have fully sold out for this year, may be interested to know that there are tickets available for Robin Ince's Uncaged Monkeys tour, starring Brian Cox, Tim Minchin, Simon Singh, Ben Goldacre, Helen Arney and Adam Rutherford.

The show's sold out in Brighton on 15 December, but there are still tickets available for the following dates and venues.